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Honorary Gifts for Christmas |
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Give a meaningful gift to your friends and to a child in need this holiday season.
When you make a gift in honor of a loved one, the Children's Home will mail a lovely, personalized card to the honoree. You can donate online at umchildrenshome.org.
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Greetings!
I hope you are enjoying the cooler temperatures as fall creeps in. Colorful leaves and a snap in the air mean football and volleyball season on the United Methodist Children's Home campus. Games and sports are a great way to let loose and forget everyday stresses.
As the youth get deeper into the school year and the holidays come closer, we appreciate your prayers for the children and families we serve. The holidays can be a difficult time of year for youth at the Children's Home as they deal with feelings about their own families and situations.
This year several activities are planned around the holidays; the first will be a surprise Halloween festival for the youth here on Saturday, October 31. If you are interested in volunteering or helping out in any way, please email the Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@umchildrenshome.org. Don't forget to check out our website for detailed information about what's happening on campus and how you or your church group can help out throughout the holidays. Thank you for helping to make the United Methodist Children's Home a wonderful place for children and families! |
| Campus Update |
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Building Family Connections
Here at the United Methodist Children's Home we are continually making changes on campus to meet the needs of our youth and their families. Currently, we are renovating a cottage to provide a friendly place for foster children to visit with their birth families. Providing an oasis where families can reconnect and share time together will nurture families and help them continue to build healthy relationships. The cottage's home-like atmosphere will have a living room for families to relax, and a kitchen where families can share meals together.
Although the building's primary focus is to give families a place to meet and relax, it will also be used to teach family members valuable parenting skills that can keep families together once reunited. Activities will include teaching parents how to provide for the basic and emotional needs of their children, how to keep their children safe, and how to provide an encouraging atmosphere for children to grow and learn.
All of the activities in the house are planned around the goal of keeping families together and making families stronger. This comfortable setting will provide a better learning environment than any office building or school setting; we are excited about creating a warm and loving place for families to come together! |
| God's Q and A |
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Getting Answers From God
If you could ask God any question, what would it be? Perhaps some of your questions would sound like this:
Why was I born?
Why did my parents die?
Why do we suffer?
Why do you love me when I don't love myself?
How can you be everywhere at once?
Do you listen to every prayer?
Is the Bible real?
How do I know when God is talking to me?
What is my purpose?
Why did Jesus die for people He doesn't know?
These are just a handful of the questions written and asked by the youth here at the United Methodist Children's Home. The purpose of UMCH is not only to provide a safe haven for hurting children but also to grow their spiritual lives and relationships with God.
Many of the children who come to us question their purpose in life and wonder what they have to offer themselves and others. They are looking for answers to life's tough questions.
One way the youth are finding answers is to reflect on the stories from the Gospel of Mark and discuss what they tell us about God's character and how he cares for us.
"We have amazing students who desire to know God on a deep level and are willing to learn how to do it," Minister of Religious Life Rev. Ellen Shepard says, who is leading the Bible study along with Program Director of Religious Life Carol Younger. "We help kids find purpose and good qualities in themselves. We answer the question, 'What do I have to offer?'"
Many children aren't sure what their talents are or if they even have any, but no matter how chaotic life is, Rev. Shepard says, there can still be hope.
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| The "How To" Corner |
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 Encouraging Your Child to Read
The youth at the Children's Home often enter our program a year or more behind in school. It is commonly known that a love of reading can improve learning and grades in school. So what can we do to help the youth at the Home, and what can you as a parent do to help your own child learn to love reading? Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest children's literary organization, has a list of 20 ways to encourage children to read. Here are the first five on their list:
1. Scout for things your children might like to read. Use their interests and hobbies as starting points. 2. Leave all sorts of reading materials including books, magazines and colorful catalogs in conspicuous places around your home. 3. Notice what attracts your children's attention, even if they only look at the pictures. Then build on that interest: read a short selection aloud, or simply bring home more information on the same subject. 4. Let your children see you reading for pleasure in your spare time. 5. Take your children to the library regularly. Explore the children's section together. Ask a librarian to suggest books and magazines your children might enjoy. For more ways to encourage your child to read, click here. 
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The United Methodist Children's Home is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
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